#mitigation matters

[babs-zone]

a covid conscious road trip diary

los angeles to portland and back, no viruses allowed | april 2023

by babs ✨

hi yes good to be back n writing here on tumblr dot com, and what better place to start than with a little joy? in this series (a companion guide to my tiktok vlogs) i'm going to share how my partner and i traveled from LA to PDX and back without contracting the novel coronavirus.

click here for the full playlist on tiktok. click here for the above video.

⏤

who this is for:

people still using mitigation against SARS-CoV-2 looking for ways to get out and have a lil adventure without throwing caution to the winds

people who stopped using mitigation and are tired of getting sick

people who stopped using mitigation and want to start again

anyone else that finds it interesting ;)))

who this is not for:

people who don't think SARS-CoV-2 is a big deal and don't care to have an open conversation about why that is

people who want to police others behavior— i understand that we may not always see eye to eye, make exactly the same choices, etc, but there is a way to have those conversations while still acknowledging the reality that i have never knowingly been infected with SARS-CoV-2; while there's no accounting for luck, there's got to be something to what i'm doing

on that note, let's talk about my covid reality so we have a baseline knowledge of where i'm coming from:

29 / have fairly stable lupus and sjogrens syndrome / white (ashkenazi background is the lineage to carry the autoimmune diseases with 3 known cases in my fam) / (F) on medical charts but she/they to y'all tytyty / queer

my most *acutely* debilitating recurrent symptom is head and facial pain, which can be (though isn't always) triggered by mask wearing. i experienced this pain prior to the pandemic, but as time has gone on, i've had multiple episodes of pain directly connected to the pressure of a mask on my nose/sinus area (kind of in the same place as the malar rash), that extends into my eyes, up/over/around my skull, and into the clothes-hanger area of my bag, which can then in turn irritate my ribs (though not always, chronically ill people know how these things can cascade). this pain leaves me with intense sensory sensitivity (so in the dark, quiet, unable to do a lot of things), and can also include vomiting. for this reason, i try to spend as much time outside as possible.

10a-6p day job in communications where i work in person ~twice weekly at minimum (gotta Make Content and photos), as well as freelance photography, so my work is hybrid. in 2021 when i returned to work after i got vaccinated, i was still working the same food service job i'd been at since 2016. i ultimately quit that job in september of 2021 when i wasn't able to take enough time off to safely travel to photograph a wedding i'd committed to (driving takes way longer than flying), but had that not happened, i could've easily continued in that position despite the risk, as i'd structured my freelancing around that service job.

polyamorous and live with 2/3 of my partners (one works hybrid, one in service so all in-person), but we all have our own bedroom (even if we sleep in each others sometimes)

our household is in a pod with our other partners' household, which is three people in two bedrooms, all of whom work from home

my entire pod masks indoors outside of our homes unless the environment is intentionally controlled (prior testing, planning, etc); this has been a basic rule of thumb that has not changed the entire pandemic

a few of us, myself included, have access to tests through our jobs, so my household ~usually~ gets two PCRs and two RATs per week

both households have at least one HEPA filter (though all the filters need changing ngl)

both households have one aranet4 CO2 monitors, which is passed around based on need

we've had two covid positives in the pod: separate incidents, both in 2022, where both individuals were successfully isolated before further spread. blessedly, no longcovid symptoms from either of them.

so going into this trip, we brought

a good plan based on the swiss cheese model (above)

lots of different kinds of masks, as switching up the way pressure hits on my face can mean longer time able to mask

a bunch of covid tests

that's it

we considered taking one of the HEPA filters, but, as mentioned, they need changing and we just didn't have time to do so

likewise, didn't bring the CO2 monitors so others could use

ok, i think that's good background, now on to the fun!

⏤

day 1 - LA to silicon valley

after packing up the car, our first stop was coffee at the palm in burbank (which has online ordering and a walk up window), then we drove drove drove.

next stop was for lunch in bakersfield at vida vegan eatery, which has outdoor seating, but it was covered on three sides with plastic. we could've asked the folks working to lift the plastic, or we could've just taken the chance and eaten outside there regardless, as we would've been the only ones out there, but we chose to eat in the car, because this was a driving day anyhow.

drove drove drove some more thru gilroy, the garlic capital of california, where we masked up to stop at a lil farm stand.

made it to silicon valley, where we stayed at the sunnyvale ramada. we looked at a lot of chain options in the area, and chose this one not because it necessarily had the best reviews, but because it clearly had rooms that opened to the outside as well as the AC unit visible on the window, so the room takes in fresh air.

when we arrive at hotels, we mask up while do the requisite once-over (check for bed bugs, etc). we turn the ventilation up real high, open any windows, and prop the door open. masks stay on til we get all the bags in, when we usually settle in.

on this night, we threw on some nicer clothes and took a rapid test (negiii) before heading out to grab my cousin for dinner. they mask regularly, and also rapid tested negative before we headed over. even so, we keep masks on and windows down when we share the car with anyone outside the pod.

ended up on a nice pedestrian street in mountain view for dinner outdoors at yugen ramen and it was so quiet; we truly had the place to ourselves. finally, topped off the night with a quick pop into the patisserie down the street, maison alyzée. it was close to closing, so mostly empty outside of the unmasked proprietor, but, to be frank, we went into this trip assuming we'd be the only ones masked anywhere.

alright that's all for day one, eleven more to go!

#roadtripdiaries #disabledjoy #wlwcouple #westcoastroadtrip #pdx #portlandoregon #covidconscious #covidcapable #livingwithcovid #covid19 #road trip #covid mitigation #mitigation matters #living with covid #swiss cheese #swiss cheese model

[laufire]

[Darcy] saw Wickham, and afterwards insisted on seeing Lydia. His first object with her, he acknowledged, had been to persuade her to quit her present disgraceful situation, and return to her friends as soon as they could be prevailed on to receive her, offering his assistance, as far as it would go.

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice (p. 186)

#thank you to the one (1) person who recognised the best option was to get lydia away from wickham no matter the consequences #ofc lydia refused but hey. the attempt was made and i value that even more than how he mitigated the situation's pitfalls later #talking to the void #quotes #pride and prejudice #books #bookblr #fitzwilliam darcy #lydia bennet #george wickham #jane austen

[threadsun]

Thoughts on non con fics or just people who are into non con in general?

#sunshine #asks #18+ only #idk man I have a degree in gender and sexuality studies my thoughts on the matter are more nuanced than I can easily explain on tumblr #but like take a look at the things I write and take a wild guess on my broad stance 😂 #as long as the real actual living human beings involved are all consenting adults I really don't give a shit #or think it's appropriate for anyone else to try regulating #I'm more interested in mitigating actual real life harm to actual real life people than handwringing over fanfiction #(not to mention I could go on a whole tangent about how shitty the way people talk about actual rape that happens to real people is) #(but that's not what you're asking about so I'm not gonna go there)

[torchwood-99]

Today I learned that "true" Brienne of Tarth fans don't want her finding love and romance, but that her real happy ending will be her living a life of devotion and duty to the pretty person who happens to be their fave.

Funny that.

#ASOIAF #Game of Thrones #Brienne of Tarth #jaime-x-Brienne #Braime #Brienne will always be a knight and a warrior and that matters #but it is also matters that she will find a reciprocal love based in partnership #don't kid yourself that being Sansa's servant is somehow better for her than finding love with Jaime your fave isn't that good #Jaime fought a bear for her Sansa would leave Brienne to be eaten if it was convenient for her #don't kid yourselves that you're doing her any favours by turning her into your (Sansa's) pet knight #the show got one mitigating factor in Brienne's endgame right #after losing Jaime her most important relationship was Podrick whom loved her like a younger brother or even a mother and she loved in turn #not a pairing of service but of friendship

[sweetmage]

I am filled with both joy and dread that I'm gutting obsessed with dragon age again because on one hand I love that series to pieces and I'm feeling more confident in my writing an art that I was last time I was here. But on the other hand I am afraid of boring/annoying my BG3 fandom pals who do not go here 😭 Obviously I'm still obsessed with BG3 too, but DA is returning we a joint hyperfixation.

But all that said, for better or worse, I am definitely back in DA hell 👀💖

#im also cutting back on social media big time anyway to mitigate autistic burnout but i got lax over the weekend #so i suppose most days of the week it wont matter much since I wont be online a lot lol #jun rambles

[thoroughlycollected]

So I was doing my job- genuinely earnestly working- when I had the sudden thought: how high above sea level is Cloud Recesses? Are the Lan doing intense upper body strength training in low oxygen like Olympians? Is going down the mountain like taking off training weights to be lighter/stronger/faster?

#i’m thinkin ok i’m thinking #i’ll go back to work in a second i do have things to do but first i wanted to document this stray thought #would elevation even matter to cultivators? #maybe at a certain point their golden core mitigates it but what about before they cultivate it what about normal ppl #like maybe by age 16 all the cultivator juniors are about equal but from ages 7-15 the lan just have an advantage? #on account of their being able to do all the things their peers do with less oxygen and then they walk down hill & get a buff from The Air #gusu lan #mdzs #the untamed #cql thoughts #lan posting

[vashtijoy]

Akechi and Joker are often presented as two sides of the same coin – their rivalry highlights the fact that, had circumstances been different, Akechi might have been a similar person to our main character. However, this is where all the character-building and setup for redemption comes to a screeching halt, and the wheels fall off the catbus. The main issue stems from Akechi’s motivations, and ideology; though the heroes challenge this, he never really changes. He never acknowledges that what he did was wrong, nor does he show any remorse for his actions. He is never presented as uncertain, reluctant or fearful. He’s certainly influenced by the adults in his life, but when left to his own devices, it’s unconvincing that he isn’t just as twisted.

#persona 5 #goro akechi #not sure i agree with all of this #but it's very good #specifically the game *does* make efforts to offer mitigating factors for akechi #and to downplay his acts #that devastating subway crash where nobody dies for instance #interesting to consider whether you can have a redemption through self-sacrifice #when the sacrifice survives #also i'll just say it #akechi is way more interesting for being so unrepentant #also p5r suggests he's looking for ways to atone through action #I see a lot of #he didn't say sorry so he's not sorry #and I don't think he is sorry #but come the fuck on y'all #that total waste of my time line is two edged #oh in my world you can stay with amamiya-kun and start to make amends for what you did #we know the first matters to some extent #but the second #how can he make any kind of atonement if he's not there? #as a brainwashed puppet? #it would be meaningless #a total waste of his time #if you don't interpret third semester aware that he knows he's dead from the start #you might as well not bother imo #like he's going to turn around to fucking *maruki* and bare his soul #and like #it's actually the same temptation maruki will later offer joker #and we see how well akechi takes that

[lemoniko]

what if they were SIMS!!!!!

#portraits #nobody else gaf but me and thats OKAY!!!!!!! #i couldnt be bothered to do ziuzs nose scar It doesnt matter #ziuz's (black hair) eyes are naturally heterochromatic #but kanins white eye is caused by all the light they take in during shb #trying not to infodump AGGAAAAAAAAA #actually i will. #theyre both tanks but kanin is a warrior and more offensive. she can deal a lot of damage #but relies on other ppl for healing and defenses because strategy goes out the window when she fights and she focuses on dealing #a lot of damage in a short amount of time. NO time for mitigation #in-game ziuz is a paladin. and i originally planned for him to switch to gunbreaker when he gets to shb but ive been playing healer classes #lately so ive been considering him as like. white mage #altho i do like having two tanks that are vastly different in terms of fighting style and personality #i mean they can always have other jobs besides their main. like they can both be mainly tanks but kanin would probably also take on dps #and ziuz could also be a healer #Nodding nodding #*s

[paeinovis]

"GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences physicist Christopher Kyba and colleagues found that the night sky has brightened by roughly 7 to 10 percent every year, from 2011 to 2022.

That's equivalent to the night sky doubling in brightness in fewer than eight years or more than quadrupling in 18 years. The researchers estimate that a child born under a night sky with 250 visible stars would see fewer than 100 stars in that same patch of darkness by the time they finish school."

Support the International Dark Sky Association

(Bonus: if you hate Elon Musk, the IDA is suing SpaceX for launching their stupid gazillion satellites that were providing internet for Ukraine which he threatened to pull support for because it was 'too expensive' ($80 million) despite buying Twitter for $44 billion.)

#imagine if half the stars you saw as a kid were gone by the time you got out of high school #actually MORE than half #if that doesn't make you want to cry or punch something there is something wrong with you #im so depressed abt light pollution it's unbelievable #and not to be like it's leds fault but it literally is like they talk abt it in the article #just another reason for those stupid headlights and blindingly bright fucking signs to be turned off at night #idk there's sm to do to mitigate it #like streetlights don't need to be as bright as the sun #n don't get me started on the effects of circadian rhythms in insects n birds n turtles n humans for that matter #the truth is out there #light pollution #astronomy #science #elon musk

[rimouskis]

okay I've decided against pursuing any sort of diagnosis re: my growing suspicions I have ADHD/something of that ilk for a variety of reasons, but it will NEVER stop galling me how I lack object permanence. like a baby. I need to have clear storage containers because if I cannot see something I forget it exists. it's both a relief to know that there is a potential "explanation" for such behavior but also realizing that most other people can do convenient things (like: remembering the existence of stuff) is also FRUSTRATINGGGG because I wish that was me! imagine being able to remember things not only casually but well! imagine that! god!

#it's also frustrating because it can bleed into interpersonal relationships and depending on people's friendship styles it can have a... #large impact. like back in high school my best friend would regularly be hurt by me not remembering things #(ranging from stories she'd tell me to stories I'd already told her to people's names to pieces of information I'd been made aware of) #and I took it personally at that age and sort of took it as: #''I am an inherently selfish person who can't remember things about other people and I am Bad'' #and while that friendship grew apart and she sort of resigned herself (eventually) to me being the way that I was #I guess I never really let go of my guilt around it... and even now I still feel Very Bad about not remembering things #and I've often thought to myself of how I could mitigate it to be a better friend #but I short of ''keeping notes on your friends and the stories they tell you which you will need to reference often'' #I've not had much luck in cracking that #I feel like as I've grown older I've found friends who (for whatever reason) don't take my ''poor memory'' personally #[and hilariously I've seemed to befriend people with FREAKISHLY GOOD memories who more than make up for my own] #and that's been... a bit better because it's been many years since I've had a friend make me feel bad for not remembering something #and in fact I have friends now who HAVE diagnosed ADHD who (obviously) Get It #but back of my head I still think that I do the people around me a disservice by not frequently/accurately committing things to memory #I think it makes me a worse friend and a worse employee for that matter #and I do in fact wish there was a magic pill that would grant me that ability and that ability only. it feels like it would change my LIFE. #anyways this tag essay is brought to you by: #me looking for my concert earplugs (which I have never used despite buying them FOR three concerts I went to last year since I kept... #say it with me... forgetting about them the day of the concert!) and finding a stash of two different battery types I had no idea I owned #anyways. earplugs are going into my car so I will have them on me #and batteries have been moved to the clear container in my closet with the other batteries. sigh.

[loriache]

I have made the brilliant discovery that my General Malaise and mysterious tummyaches of late may be related to the Very Horrible News of my honourary weird older brother and my mum's friend of over a decade being a predatory creep.

Was reminded of this news while talking to my sibling today and the Malaise heightened to a Dread. Fairly conclusive imo.

#text post #personal #doing very rather bad. feeling somewhat homicidal. #honestly i dont know how to process this so for now it would be optimal for me to forget again #so the Dread Levels can become somewhat manageable #fun colours meant to mitigate the subject matter somewhat. not sure if it works tbh

[elytrafemme]

alright update on the whole, projection onto a fictional character thing? yeah so i think when i read certain kinds of media it completely shifts my self perception and really fucks with how i view things, because it definitely feels like there’s some rift between who i was a few days ago and who i am currently and i’m not totally sure what to do about it? anyway on the bright side i’m actually going back to reread the beginning of how to survive camping plus some of the other stories by the author because may as well, right?

#when you're a character in a story though no matter how realistic the story is #it's a bit easier to mitigate the unreality portion of it #i am physically a human so i can't really do anything about this which is kind of upsetting #and it's probably a preclude into me having a depressive episode which means i should see my friends to pull out of it #but like. i don't want to see anyone like this? this doesn't feel right to me

[lightngaleart]

Took home 4 kribensis cichlids a few days ago… one of them turned out to be one inch of pure rage so I took 3 of them back to be safe, and exchanged for a blue acara

Now everyone is happy (even the pictus was hiding at the tine lmao)

#i tried to mitigate the problems and find another way #then I saw him go after the fire mouth and was like ‘welp that’s not gonna work!’ #he was literally the embodiment of ‘size doesn’t matter’ #it was like the mean kid in the playground that would bully everyone and try to claim half the area for himself #he legit did too and he was TINY

[hakunonon]

lmao this is so fucked. in spite of def up, class advantage, and ssr stats, huang almost oneshot my taira.

and then of course on his next turn he stripped my party buffs (including her guts) and finished her off.

this game’s difficulty balance is fucking wack.

#''do you have hard damage mitigation up every turn? no? lmao get fucked.'' #''oh you *do* have hard mitigation up this time? lmaooo bitch you thought!!'' *removes party buffs or uses invuln pierce or some other bs* #i'm not saying i want this shit to be easy #but it just feels like half the time the 'challenging' content in this game #is just pulling the videogame equivalent of 'making up imaginary shit on the playground until you win' #class advantage? boss does so much damage that shit barely matters #def up? ditto #evades or invuln or guts? this boss *loves* removing buffs #want to burst them down before they can annihilate your roster? too bad they have some kind of special unremovable defence status #hakunonon vs the gacha

[likesplatterpaint]

Way up in the water

I see it swimming

Where is my mind?

#the last 36 hours have been a unique hell my friends #we went from having no idea where mikes sister was or if we’d ever see her again #to having her safely at our house #and fucking all the awards to my husband for talking her into coming here and mitigating the hysterical in laws #she is making concrete plans to start her life thank fucking god #boundaries have been laid for us and her #and genuinely everything went better than expected #not how I wanted to spend my day off but she’s safe and that’s what matters #mike and I are e x h a u s t e d pls send prayers and vibes #his first day of work at the new job went great #apollo be eyeing me last Friday like. hah. yeah bitch. I bet you WILL need Monday off

[obstinaterixatrix]

and for some reason something’s weird with a bank so I’m trying to get into contact with support to see if it’s a platform wide issue of servers just being down or if I have to worry about something but apparently the 24 hour support is in fact not 24 hours and redirected me to a message about checking back in an hour

#my ramblings #closes eyes. it’s fine I checked the balance and also this is one of the reasons I insisted on a baby leash. #mitigates any potential for damage no matter what #but I’m checking on downdetector and it looks like a lot of folks are reporting that it’s been down in the last hour #thank you downdetector and people who make reports